Every Man for Themselves
by Thugs Bunny 009
Summary: Alright. So he was dropped into a desert. Okay, he could handle that. Though Sasuke kind of wished he wasn't dropped into a desert inhabited by Biju-like creatures and a few shinobi here and there . What an annoyance...


**Disclaimer: I don't own Sasuke or Bleach **

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><p><span>Every Man for Themselves <span>

**Chapter**

One 

Way 

to 

Survive

**One**

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><p><em>Fucking bitch!<em>

One Sasuke Uchiha was usually not one to swear so crudely, but there was little to describe the annoyingly stoic woman who had left him in such dire circumstances such as this. There really was little he could do when he felt that pull on the scruff of his jacket right before being hacked into her black portal and thrown into this wide berth of sandy space.

"Nothing I do works," Sasuke murmured with sweat-bullets descending down his face. He took a moment to breath. Okay, his ancestral brother Naruto had tricks in abundance. He could hold her off, and perhaps even have her on the defence with his infinite shadow clones, giving him enough time to figure out a way to get back so they can seal her away for good.

"Okay, so I'm in a desert with shinobi who are wielding biju-level chakra reserves, beautiful," Sasuke said sarcastically, closing his sharingan and rinnegan eyes. Just where the hell did Kaguya send him to? Though there were a few 'shinobi' with the average level of reserves, but most warriors seem to be casually packing old-school level Naruto-chakra reserves. The ones with the average level of reserves seem to be weakening by the second to Sasuke's outrageous sensory ability.

Were they dying?

Should Sasuke go off and assist them?

No, out of the question! Thinking he could heroically be the saviour of some unknown place he had never before treaded foot on was highly naïve and idealistic.

The Sage of Six Paths had bestowed him with his own ocular power, as well as awakening his long Indra-dominant power, so he and Naruto could put a stop to Madara before Kaguya took over his body via the Black Zetsu. Sasuke wouldn't let him or his elder brother down.

'Hm. Guess I might as well ask,' Sasuke thought rhetorically, not even needing to spin around to know one of the inhabitants of this dimension had appeared behind him with a strange boom buzz, 'His chakra-levels are off the charts. What is this guy?'

"Who are you?" A voice eerie calm, virtually devoid of any emotion, demanded. Sasuke pivoted on his heels, taking in his interrogator with one normal sharingan eye opened that got the strange looking man before him to lift his eyebrows up, but only slightly, 'That eye of his… he can't be a normal human.' The man standing before Sasuke had pale skin, two green tear-like thin tattoos falling from his leaf-green eyeballs to his chin, and a crop of short black hair falling to his shoulders.

That was where the normalities of the 'man' standing before Sasuke ended, and oddities began. This started with the strange mask covering the left side of his head with a horn sticking out of it. He wore a white jacket with a pair of white hakama, finished off with a blade sheathed to his hip.

'At least one thing seems clear, his fetish for the colour green,' Sasuke mused, his sarcasm not hindering his examination of the creature looking at him with emotionless eyes, 'He's like an manifestation of pure chakra, exactly like a biju.' Sasuke noted, choosing he would now speak up to get his most predominant point across, "I'm under no obligation to tell you anything."

Ulquiorra closed his eyes, "I see." Impassively, he reopened them, "I should have expected as much from one of the intruders."

'_One _of the intruders?' Sasuke thought with slight incredulity, just managing to keep his features in a cool scowl, 'Just what the hell's going on here?'

"You have peeked my interest intruder-san," Ulquiorra confessed with no embarrassment whatsoever. Good God, and Sasuke thought Itachi was once emotionless. Itachi's poker-face had nothing on this guy's.

"How so?" Sasuke said evenly, keeping his tone a harsh gruff one.

"The last set of intruders all arrived in pairs or trios, so it makes me contemplate why is one exempt to this rule," Ulquiorra explained, "The possibilities of your untimely arrival here in Hueco Mundo could really go either way."

'So I'm in a place could called Hueco Mundo,' Sasuke noted, 'And apparently it's only recently been invaded by a motley crew for one reason or the next I don't give a damn to know.'

Ulquiorra emotionlessly listed off the possibilities for why Sasuke could be here, "You may have had plans to meet up with your fellow comrades to rescue that woman, in which case," A shiny gleam caught Sasuke's sharingan eye, as Ulquiorra thumbed his blade just inches out of his scabbard, "-I will have to prohibit that." Ulquiorra's features took on an exceedingly hollow, deadly grave serious look. The level of creepiness a robotic-being could emit was quite impressive if Sasuke was being honest. Sasuke's poor old acquaintance Sakura would shiver from the emptiness of this man before him if she was here.

...Not that he could blame her.

"In the unlucky case your arrival here is one of highly inconvenience I believe Aizen-sama may want to recruit you to his ranks," Ulquiorra intoned.

"Hm." Sasuke hummed cryptically.

Ulquiorra glanced at him.

Sasuke stared back.

"…"

"…"

The sound of the air blowing in the distance could be heard. This was the quietest confrontation either had had in their lives, but quite frankly, Ulquiorra preferred it this way. He wasn't one for all that chit-chat trash his fellow Espada and partner Yammy liked, the bumbling oaf.

"Now, then… I'm going to have to ask you to come along with me. Aizen-sama wishes to have an audience with you," Ulquiorra mumbled, not missing the way the young man before him remained unflinching even in the face of impending danger, 'I can't tell if he's simply trash, or actually a considerable threat.'

"And If I refuse?" Sasuke asked. Immediately, Sasuke prepared lightning chakra in his left hand when he saw the emotionless creature propel himself forward in an burst of immense speed, similar to the level of a shunshin but _far _faster. Although Sasuke noted Ulquiorra trying to sprint behind him, he was able to cut off his path with a chirping-emitting long blue beam-like lightning stream.

Ulquiorra's instincts were clearly very sharp, noted when he effortlessly stopped his shunshin-like speed technique to instead draw his blade, blocking the lightning from taking off his head, "Extraordinary. You were able to track my Sonido," Ulquiorra intoned, "And you acted accordingly to stop me from penetrating your blind spot with your strange lightning-based technique."

Sasuke waved his arm forward; his Chidori Spear effortlessly gave the emotionless creature a giant pushed, lifting him off of his feet and sending him soaring throughout the air, "You talk too much." Sasuke stated with a trademark stoic expression of his own, though he couldn't match Ulquiorra's.

Ulquiorra landed on his feet a good two feet away from where he originally stood on the sandy surface that was Hueco Mundo, "I see." This man clearly wasn't trash. Ulquiorra would need to go all out in order to bring him down.

Flying forward with a burst of Sonido, Ulquiorra felt a tremendous blow of a clad-foot ferociously smash him into his cheek, knocking out a few of his teeth and blowing him back with outstanding force. As Ulquiorra would create a long gush in the earth Sasuke would land gracefully on the soles of his feet.

"What's the matter?" Sasuke taunted with a smug smile latched onto his face. "Am I too much for you?" As the creature struggled to sit up, Sasuke closed his other sharingan eye, 'I don't even need my sharingan much less my rinnegan to deal with this freak of nature.' Sasuke was going to have to thank the Sage of Six Paths for bestowing him this amazing power to deal with Bijus, basically, with casual ease. Besides that he really needed to reserve his strength to deal with...ahem, **_other matters _**that exceed even the progenitor of chakra, Kaguya.

Ulquiorra spat a pair of teeth and a batch of blood from his mouth, "I see. You're far stronger than even Ichigo Kurosaki. Furthermore you're as much as an enigma as is the human-heart. Thus you're a threat to Aizen-sama. Henceforth I must eliminate you." A green engulfing-light grow developed in the form of a small ball on Ulquiorra's finger, while the Espada struggled, but managed with great effort to stand on his feet.

'Hm. Judging by the amount of potency behind this technique of his, I would say it's about compatible to a mini Biju-dama,' Sasuke analysed calmly, never once opening his eyes, just telling by feel alone that the ball on Ulquiorra's finger was getting bigger and stronger by the second.

Sasuke began his countermeasures, his hands blurring through hand-seals.

"Know what you plan shall fall short in front of this, a hollow's ultimate technique…" Ulquiorra's voice echoed out in a whisper, but ghostly manner, with the basketball-shaped beam of power spinning wildly on his index finger, resembling an (light) eclipsing star, "Cero." A massive cannon-wave of sorts rocketed out of Ulquiorra's outstretched index finger, while Sasuke's chest puffed up like a balloon.

'Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku (Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation).' Sasuke mused. Pushing his body forward, a gigantic, fiery, inferno-like wall exploded out of Sasuke's mouth, covering everything in sight, not like the lack of sight bothered Sasuke anyway. His fire-empowered tidal wave washed over Ulquiorra's cero easily, then headed on a one-way course for roasting Espada-town.

Ulquiorra did something…

He did...

"…"

He just couldn't comprehend what he did.

It was his eyes, they, err, widened. This feeling… it was incredibly difficult to put into words to describe to this unwelcoming emotion Ulquiorra just randomly felt well up inside of him staring at Sasuke's wall of fire. It was unpleasant.

'Apprehensive. This man-. _No_, _creature _has the strange ability to inject apprehension in me,' Ulquiorra realized right before his entire being was engulfed by the Uchiha's overwhelming tidal wave of fire. He grunted, gritted his teeth, as Hueco Mundo was rocked violently.

XxX

(Elsewhere)

"What the hell was that?" An orange-haired teen shouted in alarm, wearing a long black tight kimono, only buttoned up at the waist-area. He had matching hakama, with a pair of wooden sandals. Perhaps the most distinguished piece of gear on the young man's person was an average-sized black katana with a manji guard.

Even as the long sword gleamed it radiated with a red aura that engulfed the surrounding area in a choking fierce power.

"_Shit_! Did the others run into an espada?" The orange haired teen asked himself with clear desperation on his face, still staring at the massive wall of fire covering everything in the distance.

The teen hastily rounded on a creature with equal unnatural hair, "Grimmjow, what the hell's going on over there?"

The dubbed blue-haired Grimmjow didn't even flinch at the command, his sea coloured eyes cautiously watching the gigantic flames billowing in the distance, 'Huh? Is that Ulquiorra on the receiving end of a roasting?' He wittily contemplated in bored indifference.

He didn't recognise this reiatsu-signature clashing with Ulquiorra's, but then again who cared? As long as that emo-freak shied away from his location than he could kick Kurosaki's ass, which reminded him...

"What do you care Kurosaki?" He asked, his tone aggressive as he whirled on the dubbed Kurosaki, relishing in the frustrated expression that fell on Ichigo's face, mostly because he could use it to his advantage, "Or are you planning on chickening out, ya chicken shit little bitch?"

_Oh_. That always worked. If your opponent was in doubt take a shot at his pride to coax him into your warrior's duel. The trick was like a relative to tails, in the sense that they shared one key similarity, they never failed.

"_Oh_! That does it!" The self-proclaimed number one protector, Ichigo Kurosaki bellowed, "I'm dicing your ass!"

A cocky smirk found its way to Grimmjow's face, "Then what are ya waiting for?" Not only did his eye widen, but his smirk did, but not from shock. He was eccentrically excited, "Come at me, bro!"

"_O! _I'm coming at ya, _bro!_" The orange-haired young defender roared back an acerbic remark. After seeing Grimmjow cockily urge him to come at him with his hand, Ichigo whirled around with a softened gaze to a gorgeous amber-haired young woman wearing white robes and a small, adorable-looking green-haired little girl with a skull-shaped mask perched on her head, "Inoue-chan, Nel, just stay where you are. Both of you. I don't want either of you getting hurt in this duel."

"Oh Kurosaki-kun." Orihime whispered with noticeable worry laced in her voice.

"Itsy~go," Nelliel cried with tears pouring down her eyes, putting a smile on Ichigo's face at her complete butchering of his name.

"Don't worry, Nel. I'm gonna win this one. Trust me." Ichigo said with indomitable confidence evident in his gruff voice warming Orihime's heart at his fatherly-like reassurance to Nelliel.

"B-But Itsy~go," But Nelliei continued to wail, earning herself a sympathetic expression from Ichigo."

"Inoue-chan." Ichigo said, making Orihime flinch.

"Y-Yes, Kurosaki-kun," Orihime said as if she was brought out of a daydream.

"I'm predicting the weather's about to get seriously windy," Despite his witty proclamation there was zero jest or playfulness in Ichigo's voice. Now clearly wasn't the time for jokes, "I want you to inject a barrier around yourself and Nel," For a moment Orihime stood on the pillar she and Nelliel had been left at by Ichigo in a stupor, before vaguely remembering her crush had requested she do something.

"U-Uh, right." Orihime said softly, clasping her ears where two star-shaped hairpins resided, "Santen Kesshun" A glowing eternal triangle-shaped shield was almost instantly formed in front of a now resolute Orihime but a still upset Nelliel. Nodding with a serious expression that was completely at odds with her normal personality, Orihime said, "It's done."

"Good," Ichigo said approvingly, turning to face his new chief rival who had been respectful enough to wait patiently until Ichigo was done talking to his woman, as far as he was concerned anyway. Little did Grimmjow know, he would earn _major _points in Ichigo's book for such a sportsman-like approach, not that he would ever know if he couldn't read Ichigo's mind. Still, Grimmjow's honour had clearly put Ichigo's in a good mood, made all the more apparent by his playful smirk, "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"_Tch._ Sure you are." Grimmjow said sarcastically, not stopping the smirk from spreading across his own visage. He merely hopped up from his own rock he had taken leisure on with his hands in his pockets, his smirk growing cockier by the second, "Let's do this!"

"Right!"

With a couple of casual leaps, the two proud, honourable warriors took to running through the sky itself, all with the intent to beat the ever loving crap out of each other. This wasn't a matter of fighting to free/enslave a damsel-in-distress. They just wanted to clash swords, to prove to the other once-and-for all that the _one _who remains standing at the end was better than the loser on the ground. And both were determined that the victor standing above the loser would be one of them and not the other!

As Orihime watched Ichigo leave like an heroic knight-wearing black armour, a sense of peaceful reassurance washed through her being. She didn't need an overly long internal monologue to understand why she had this blissful feeling either. The amber-haired beauty had already come to terms with her feelings for that bright orange beacon of strength and hope. As Orihime squatted down to comfort Nel, she had one wish she hoped would come true more than anything else.

'Maybe one day, I'll be able to mother Kurosaki-kun's children.'


End file.
